ARCS Field Day
The Amateur Radio Club of Savannah held its annual "Field Day" emergency preparedness exercise, June 27-28, 2009, at the National Guard Recreation Pavilion located at Travis Field.
Beth Ann and I took our camper to the Field Day Site again this year. We arrived at the Field Day Site around 9:30am. Beth Ann parked the camper. The camper was setup, then I was free to help the other ARCS members with the set-up of antennas and stations. Doug Rowland's air powered "Antenna Launcher," was used to propel wire antennas over tree limbs.
The weather was perfect for set-up. There were clear skies, but it was hot and humid. For those who participated with the setup, sandwiches were available.
Air National Guardsman, Mike Gray, of Nevils, GA, set-up a very interesting and impressive communications display at our Field Day.
At 2pm, W4HBB, the Amateur Radio Club of Savannah Field Day Station, was "on the air" calling "CQ Field Day."
During the afternoon, the Field Day operators made numerous contacts. A Savannah Morning News reporter covered our event.
Around 6:30pm, dinner was served. WOW!!!! What a spread!!! It was a "covered dish" meal, with the ARCS providing the "fried turkey."...Mmmmmm Good!!!!
Radio operations continued throughout the evening and the night. Beth Ann turned in early. Andy, WD4AFY turned-in around 1am, in the camper.
WD4AFY awoke around 5am. Andy operated awhile until Robert KJ4HAL returned to the operation after a several hour catnap. A delicious breakfast casserole (prepared by Beth Ann) was served around 9am. Around noon, unused antennas were taken down as Field Day was coming to a end. A WTOC-TV reporter covered our event. Operations continued until around 2pm. The rest of the antennas were removed, radios were packed, and the Recreation Pavilion was cleaned.
After helping with the cleanup of the Pavilion facility, Beth Ann and I loaded our camper and headed home around 2:45 pm.
WTOC aired the ARCS event on its evening news.
Here are some pictures taken during Field Day:
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